Solar Energy Stocks by Market Capitalization

Solar Power Stocks Investing Info

A Rough snapshot in time, from Google Finance, closing prices September 12, 2008:


Name Exchange Symbol Mkt Cap


General Electric Co. NYSE GE 266B


Applied Materials Inc. NASDAQ AMAT 21.78B


First Solar, Inc. NASDAQ FSLR 17.18B


Schneider Electric SA EPA SU 15.55B


MEMC Electronic Materials NYSE WFR 7.76B


SunPower Corporation NASDAQ SPWR 7.09B


Q-Cells AG Solar QCLSF 6.7B


Energy Conversion Devices ENER 6.7B


Suntech Power Holdings NYSE STP 6.35B


LDK Solar Co. Ltd. NYSE LDK 4.34B


Cypress Semiconductor Corp NYSE CY 4.23B


SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. OTC SANYY 3.54B


JA Solar Holdings Co. NASDAQ JASO 2.20B


Yingli Green Energy NYSE YGE 1.74B


Fairchild Semiconductor NYSE FCS 1.31B


GT Solar International, NASDAQ SOLR 1.31B


Evergreen Solar Inc. NASDAQ ESLR 1.04B


ReneSola Ltd. (ADR) NYSE SOL 942.89M


Canadian Solar Inc. NASDAQ CSIQ 888.95M


Trina Solar Limited NYSE TSL 701.34M


Ener1 Inc. AMEX HEV 667.66M


Solarfun Power Holdings NASDAQ SOLF 643.60M


China Sunergy Co. Ltd. NASDAQ CSUN 350.22M


Valence Technology Inc. NASDAQ VLNC 301.12M


5N Plus Inc. TSE VNP 284.83M


Ascent Solar Tech NASDAQ ASTI 132.88M


Beacon Power (BCON) energy storage company, Solar energy inverters, flywheel technology


DayStar Technologies NASDAQ DSTI 95.42M


Spire Solar NASDAQ SPIR 78.7B


SIMTEK Corporation NASDAQ SMTK 42.61M


Carmanah Technologies Corporation TSE CMH 42.33M


ZBB Energy Corporation AMEX ZBB 31.54M

more to come!!!

Complete list of publicly-traded wind energy stocks

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3 Best Alternative Energy Stocks plus Pundits Picks

My top two renewable power equity investments are very easy for me; I really like the Geothermal energy powerhouse Ormat Technologies, and believe that Suzlon Energy, the windpower giant from India, is another extraordinary long term opportunity. In the near to medium term, the oil price has plenty of downside risk, which will create some short sharp buy-opps on the above two names.

Most people would expect First Solar to be near the top of my list, and though they are an awesome first-mover play in thin film solar, the technology and markets are wide open and everyone already knows about that stock. I'll play safe today and use Vestas as my 3rd pick. They are the number one wind energy company in the fastest growing green power sector.


Here are the 2007/2008 choices of other alternative energy bloggers / writers / analysts:

Tom Konrad AltEnergyStocks.com Dec 2007 #10, 9, 8




Tom Konrad AltEnergyStocks.com Dec 2007 #7, 6, 5, 4



Tom Konrad AltEnergyStocks.com Dec 2007 #3, 2, 1




Andrew Ling Top 5 Alternative Energy Stocks +10 Honorable Mentions



Twenty Top Alternative Energy Stocks from WindIntell.com



Five Alternative-Energy Stock Picks from Jim Jubak



Phillip Lyon likes Beacon Power, at Seeking Alpha

Microturbine and Fuel Cell Technology Companies; Capstone and Fuel Cell Energy

Alternative energy investors are likely familiar with the excellent renewable power investing website www.AltEnergyStocks.com run by Tom Konrad, so some of you may have already read the company profiles below. Turbine manufacturer Capstone Microturbine (CPST) and molten carbonate fuel cell company Fuel Cell Energy (FCEL) are presented in the context of how their clean energy technologies can provide efficiency and find success in the emerging pure fuels economy.

Since it was written, CPST has risen to $2.72, while FCEL has dropped to $6.94, having been clubbed in recent days by widening 3rd quarter losses. Both names may still offer excellent capital gains potential for the speculative and long term investors looking to build diversified portfolios of emerging clean energy technology growth stocks.

Happy Sunday!

Joe T


Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technology, distributed generation

(excerpted from a late '07 post by Tom Konrad on AltEnergyStocks.com)


Capstone Microturbine (NasdaqGM:CPST) $1.62 (30dec07), and

FuelCell Energy Inc. (NasdaqGM:FCEL) $10.30 (30dec07)

I'm bullish on both these companies because I'm bullish on distributed generation and Combined Heat and Power (CHP) technologies. My intuition is that 2008 or 2009 will be the year that distributed generation and CHP grab the attention of Wall Street, the way thin-film PV stole the show in 2007. Both FuelCell and Capstone stand to benefit. They may even get a boost from making ethanol production more efficient.

Regular readers may be surprised that I am recommending a fuel cell stock, since I call Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles "a politically inspired boondoggle." But there are more types of fuel cells than hydrogen: molten carbonate or solid oxide fuel cells. FCEL makes a variant of molten carbonate fuel cell, called the Direct Fuel Cell (DFC), a different beast than the hydrogen fuel cells, because it can work without an external mechanism to reform the hydrogen.

FuelCell's DFCs burn methane rather than hydrogen, and are very tolerant not only of low heat content methane (which is often produced in anaerobic digestion or wastewater treatment.) Note that on page 10 of this EPA study [.pdf] of combined heat and power installations at wastewater treatment plants, a 300kW fuel cell requires a less expensive fuel treatment pressurization facility than a much smaller microturbine system. This is almost certainly due to the lower need for fuel pressurization.

Biogas can be a particularly tricky fuel given the presence of impurities such as H₂S and siloxanes which build up as deposits in combustion chambers. Microturbines, fuel cells, and internal combustion engines need fuel treatment if siloxanes (which are usually present in waste water treatment plants as a byproduct of deodorants) are present. Fuel cells and reciprocating engines also require the removal of H₂S. Nevertheless, wastewater treatment facilities combine an abundant source of free fuel (biogas) with a need for heating, and so present excellent opportunities for CHP.

Fuel cells are more efficient (47% fuel to electricity conversion) than comparably sized microturbines (30-35%) or internal combustion generators (about 40%), which not only translates into fuel savings (or higher electricity output), but also leads to only 85% or less CO₂ emissions than the less expensive (per kW) or internal combustion generators. Both microturbines and fuel cells get a large system efficiency boost when the heat is also used; both FuelCell and Capstone claim that their products can reach 80% overall efficiency in a CHP context, while the relatively small size of microturbines and fuel cells are particularly well suited to small scale industrial facilities and commercial buildings.

Rising fuel prices make efficient energy generation important and new fuel sources such as biogas and other waste gasses (such as the Ford plant using a DFC to make electricity from paint fumes) will present opportunities for both DFCs and microturbines in CHP and distributed generation applications. While DFCs have the advantage of working well on low energy content gas, microturbines are better suited to many projects due to their smaller size, and more fuel flexibility. Microturbines are much more tolerant of a wide variety of fuels, and can even handle the H₂S in digester gas, as noted above. Capstone sells versions which can run on liquid fuels such as diesel, propane, and kerosene. While fuel cells also have this capability, they are less tolerant of impurities, and FuelCell does not currently sell products for these markets.

One final advantage for microturbines is their ability to ramp up and down quickly, meaning they can used in remote locations with irregular fuel supplies, or when demand for electricity is not constant. DFCs are less able to ramp up and down because of the need to maintain a high temperature in the fuel cell stacks, so they will only be used when they can be always on, but their ability to supplement biogas with natural gas from the pipeline system still means that they can be used with fuel of variable availability.

FuelCell's DFC and Capstone's microturbines should be able to compete effectively with internal combustion engines in distributed generation applications, since reciprocating engines are too large for many potential projects. Rising energy prices and tightening emissions limits should allow DFCs to slowly increase their market share in a rapidly growing market. Incidentally, there has also been a successful test of a fuel cell/microturbine hybrid system [.pdf], with a Capstone turbine generating electricity from the waste heat of a fuel cell.

Capstone finished 2008 with a year-end surge because of new rules which streamline the installation of microturbines in New York City, but could easily continue higher, if I am right about distributed generation taking off. The new NYC guidelines could easily be one sign of the beginning of this trend. On the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised to see a small price retreat in January. It may be wise to wait a couple weeks and see what happens with CPST.

Above analysis excerpted from: 10 Alternative Energy Stocks for 2008

More Renewable Energy Investing links:

WindIntell.com Wind Energy Stocks Investing

Geotherma.info Geothermal Power Investments

Solar Power Stocks, Alternative Energy Companies

Global Clean Energy: Top Ten Renewable Power Stocks

August 2008 Top Ten Alternative Energy Companies

Publicly-traded major green power stocks:


General Electric alternative energy - Leader in wind energy, solar power and water purification


Suzlon Wind energy turbine manufacturer - Only Vestas and GE are in this league


Vestas global windpower leader, gets a premium for its quality wind energy turbines


Ormat Tech USA geothermal power industry leading company


First Solar leading thin film solar energy company


Toyota clean vehicle manufacturer


SunPower Corp solar panel manufacturing company


Q-Cells AG European photovoltaic solar power company


Energy Conversion Devices, USA alternative energy technology company


Honda pioneering clean car technology




More Alternative Energy Investing Links:

Full list of Solar Power Stocks

Publicly-listed Wind Energy Companies

Geothermal Power Stocks Investing

Green Party of Canada enters Canadian Parliament with first MP

Days before a federal election call, independent MP Blair Wilson has officially joined the Greens, thus ensuring Green Party of Canada leader Elizabeth May will be able to participate in nationally televised election debates. One would hope that this will lead to increased national discussion about wind energy development in Canada, plus geothermal power and other clean energy technologies.

The excerpt below is from an article by Bruce Cheadle of The Canadian Press.

Enjoy the long weekend,

Joe T


Green party announces first federal Member of Parliament

August 30th, 2008

By Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press

OTTAWA - The Green party has gained it's first ever federal member of Parliament - even before an anticipated fall election call.

Green party Leader Elizabeth May introduced Independent MP Blair Wilson - a former Liberal first elected in 2006 - as a Green MP at a news conference Saturday morning in the capital.

May characterized the move as an historic moment, and said it provides her fledgling party with an entry into the mainstream media election debates.

"With a Green MP sitting in the House of Commons, it will now be impossible to exclude the Green party from the televised leaders' debates in the next election," said May.

Wilson said he approached the Green party about possible representation only within the past week and "the sun and the moon and stars all lined up," to get him aboard.

The party's 1.5 million votes in the 2006 election, combined with continued strong national polling numbers near 10 per cent and federal byelection results that have placed Green candidates ahead of other mainstream party contenders all point to a legitimate political entity, said May.

"We've established ourselves as a party that cannot be described as fringe."

But whether Wilson ever enters the House of Commons as a Green party MP will likely be determined by voters in his riding of West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country later this autumn.

That's no sure thing.

The Vancouver MP resigned from the Liberal caucus last fall after allegations of spending irregularities in his 2006 campaign.

Elections Canada finally cleared Wilson this summer of any improprieties following an eight-month investigation, and May said he shared "deep and detailed" financial information with the Green party over the past week that proves his innocence.

Wilson is also contemplating a defamation suit against family members following an ugly financial dispute.

Wilson won his Vancouver seat, which had been held by Conservative party stalwart John Reynolds, in a tough three-way fight with the Tories and NDP after Reynolds' retired from politics and did not run in 2006.

"Not only do I embrace the policies of my new party, I will feel that all my past difficulties are justified if, by my actions, I can make a real difference by ensuring Elizabeth May is included in the leaders' debates," Wilson said in a statement.

"There is a democracy deficit in Canadian politics and this is one step in restoring effective democracy in Canada".



Full story: Green Party representative in Canada's Parliament

McCain VP choice Palin a reactionary to the core

Perhaps history will vindicate him, but if you were an old man facing tremendous responsibilities including possibly picking the next President of the USA after yourself, should health issues arise, would you choose a northern village chief with her head in the sand?

Didn't think so.


Republicans now have Twin Dinosaurs - His'n'Hers

The key to a prosperous America and a safer world is shifting away from Texan-Saudi control of the planet to a more decentralized approach to energy and economy. Texas is connected to Alaska via Alberta, through psychographics and mutual interest. Sarah Palin is an anti-abortion, anti-gay, anti-environment, anti-clean energy reactionary and offers no substance to counteract the shallowness of McCain's personality and intellect.

Her husband works for BP, and she has advocated the teaching of creationism, an abomination to both scientists and priests. In some ways she's more like the Colbert character than the character himself is, and though that is funny, it's even more scary.

Pray for Peace, and carry a big sign,

Joe T



Renewable Energy Website Links:


WindIntell.com Wind Energy Stocks Investing




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